Santa Fe sights

Road from Albuquerque to Santa Fe

Remnants of old Route 66

The Pantry Diner - your host Mr. Tupper

Farmers Market at the Railyard

Rail Runner commuter train between ABQ and Santa Fe

Virgin of Guadelupe

Yummy organic cooking

Once she found her dream she followed it with all the passion in her soul

Corrales Sunday market

On Sundays Corrales has a Growers Market and Art in the Park.

Pottery cat

Decorated gourds

Cactus and sunflowers

It's all about the girls

ABQ sun and shadow

Dawn over the Rio Grande

Hummingbirds and balloons at 7:30 am

The following 4 photos are all the same scene, taken between 4:00pm and 5:45pm one afternoon. In the distance are the Sandia Mountains.

4:00 pm

 4:20 pm - Sand blowing in from the south

 5:15 pm - sandstorm has passed

5:45 pm - brilliant evening sunshine

Music music music



I discovered that Albuquerque Old Town plaza is a happening place for free music. Such as New Orleans jazz and a wedding in the park.

Seranading the newliweds

 The Route 66 Revelers

 

My cousins JoAnn and Adrian and I celebrated the 4th of July by going to see a really good production of the musical  "1776" at UNM.

One of my favorite bands from California, Houston Jones, performed at the Zoo on July 20th. That night when I got up to the ticket line I realized I'd forgotten my wallet, so I started back toward the car. Just then a woman came up to me and asked if I had a ticket... when I said "no" she handed me a ticket and walked off. 

Music at the Zoo - picnic supper on the grass

Houston Jones

For a couple weeks I've been singing and playing a little bit of piano with the musicians at St. Michael's and All Angels Episcopal Church at the 9:00 a.m. service. Their ensemble includes instrumentalists on piano, bass, guitar, harmonica, mandolin, bassoon, recorder, flute, soft percussion... and some mighty fine singers. Their lilting folk/Celtic style beautifully supports the experience of liturgical music and prayer in a way I've never encountered. Appropriately they call themselves "Loose @ 9". Thanks guys, for letting me join in! 

Thursday night choir rehearsal

Steve, Justin, Don aka Bob, and Ken

                         

 

ABQ Visitor Center

 Arbol de la Vida 

Crane

hiking trails start here 

delicate pink blooms

At the Albuquerque Open Space Visitor Center, I saw an art show called “Begin Again”. When the Bosque burned near the Center in 2011, green cottonwood trees were transformed into charred wood and smoke. Just one year later, the burned area is changing into a living environment again. Artists created works that respond to this cycle of destruction and creation using remnants and metaphors from the fire.

 ceramic tile by Margy O'Brien

mixed media by Marta Light

 Oil painting by Alice Webb

ABQ Open Space and Bosque

 Rio Grande at the Alameda (island on right) 

Albuquerque sprawls on for miles, bounded on the east by the Sandia Mountains. A few weeks ago when I arrived here from Flagstaff, I could hardly believe my eyes as the city came into view, as if out of nowhere, surrounded by the starkness of endless high desert. It took me a little while to adjust to city life after enjoying solitude on my long drive through wide open country.

Twin bridges for people and vehicles

Albuquerque has preserved extensive open space within the city, especially along the Rio Grande. Several pedestrian bridges cross the river, and miles of trails are open for bikes and hikes and horseback riding. 

  

Cottonwood canopy

Riverside path

For me, walking along the river and among the cottonwoods is both calming and energizing.

Into the woods

Reaching to the light

Stretching out

Survivor

Old ones